Can the Red Sox make up for 2011?

Bobby Valentine -- the biggest offseason acquisition -- is charged with getting the Red Sox back to the postseason. (Steve Mitchell/US Presswire

Bobby Valentine -- the biggest offseason acquisition -- is charged with getting the Red Sox back to the postseason. (Steve Mitchell/US Presswire)

After experiencing the most monumental regular-season collapse in 2012, despite prognostications of an eighth World Series title this time last year, the biggest question looming over Yawkey Way is, “What do the 2012 Red Sox need to do to rectify 2011?”

Regardless of last September, the Red Sox have not won a playoff game since losing the 2008 ALCS in Tampa and have not been in the playoffs since being swept by the Angels in 2009.

In 2012, the road does not look any more promising in terms of a “redemption year,” as the Tigers, Angels, Rangers, and, debatably, Yankees all have improved this offseason. Pending the expansion of the MLB playoffs in 2012, that equation has Boston sitting and watching from their living rooms come October.

The only silver lining in a scandalized clubhouse captained by Lester and Beckett is shortstop Marco Scutaro.

Papelbon is nine innings away from giving up the season-ending run on a base hit that Crawford will not get to in time.

While that game eventually decided the American League wild card, the Red Sox were the best team in the American League and still leading the division by half a game going into September.

There is no difference between the team that was the best in baseball for the better part of last summer and the team that is due to report to Fort Meyers in the coming days.

This year’s questions are exactly the same as last year. Who will earn the starting job at shortstop? Last year, it was Lowrie or Scutaro; this year, it’s Mike Aviles, Nick Punto, or Jose Iglesias. How will the back end of the rotation hold up? Last year, it was questions about Daisuke Matsuzaka, Lackey, Beckett and their abilities to bounce back from a collectively poor 2010; this year it’s how will Daniel Bard fare in the transition from reliever to starter, and who will fill the fifth spot in the rotation?

This is why GM Ben Cherington’s minimalist approach to the offseason, which has been criticized and scrutinized by Boston fans and media alike, was the only necessary maneuver in order to potentially right the ship in 2012 and get the Red Sox back in the hunt for a World Series title and the elusive playoff win.

That said, will the Boston Red Sox emerge victorious at the end of October? Probably not. The Detroit Tigers seem to be the preseason favorites for that distinction, but, then again, so were the 2011 Red Sox.